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How I Saved Money This Month: Cleaning Refrigerator Coils

"The
smartest thing you can do for your fridge is to keep the coils clean. It cuts
electricity bills and repair bills."

Clean refrigerator coils and save money. All it takes is a vacuum, a brush and 15 minutes. Coils are usually beneath the fridge and accessible from the front. But some — like the ones here — are hidden behind a cover plate in back.

Over
the years, I've heard that a dozen times from a dozen appliance experts. Here's
why: The coils' job is to dissipate the heat that's removed from the fridge. But
gradually, dust blankets the coils, so the fridge has to work harder to shed
heat. That means higher electricity bills; I've heard estimates as high as $10
per month in wasted energy. Dirty coils also increase your odds of breakdowns.

So
last weekend, I finally gave my 8-year-old fridge its first coil cleaning. It
didn't begin well; I couldn't even find the coils at first. They weren't under
the fridge where I expected them to be, and they weren't on the back either. So
I pulled out the fridge and removed and unscrewed a cover plate. Bingo. From
there on, it was a simple matter of sucking up dust with a vacuum. A bendable
dryer vent brush ($6 at my local home center) grabbed the dust that the vacuum
couldn't reach. Overall, it was a 15-minute job with a huge payoff.

Manufacturers
recommend cleaning coils twice a year. I can't promise I'll do that, but now
that I know how quick and easy it is, I won't wait another eight years either.

The problem with refrigerator coils is the location and shape of the coils. After many years of fighting this problem I finally found a frige where the coils are in the rear of the unit all neatly stretched out. Even if you only brush them lightly once every 3 or 4 years they work perfectly. Those coils in the bottom of the frige only add to the problem because there's usually a fan pulling air through them and the hot air adds to the load of the cooling system . Look into a unit where the coils are exposed at the rear of the unit and you will never be bothered by lack of efficiecy due to dirt and dust clogged coils.